For Amendment 3.

How OFTEN DO WE AS AVERage citizens have the opportunity to directly and positively impact our state court system? Not very often. However, on Nov. 7 every registered voter in Arkansas will have a golden opportunity to improve, modernize and streamline our court system by simply voting FOR Amendment 3.

The structure of our current court system in Arkansas was established by the judicial article of the Constitution of 1874. Although changes to the judicial article were included in proposed new state constitutions of 1970 and 1980, the voters rejected those more comprehensive proposals. As a result, needed changes to our judicial system have not been made since 1874.

Almost a year ago in this space, my predecessor, Bob Cearley, wrote about this proposed amendment to our state Constitution, which the 1999 General Assembly had just referred to the voters. With the general election a mere five months away let's briefly review the most significant provisions of Amendment 3.

Nonpartisan Election of Judges

Amendment 3 will retain the popular election of trial and appellate judges but they will be elected on a nonpartisan basis. Partisan politics and party affiliation should not be considerations in judicial elections. Likewise, when judges are elected on a nonpartisan basis there will he no questions or perceptions that the judge cannot be fair and impartial because of his or her allegiance to or identification with a particular political party.

Merger of Law and Equity Courts

Arkansas is the only state in the U.S. with a strict division of law and equity courts. Amendment 3 will combine our chancery and circuit courts into one trial court of general jurisdiction called the circuit court. This will eliminate the problem of cases being transferred back and forth between chancery and circuit courts or other cases being filed in the wrong court and later being reversed and retried because of the error. Arkansas' current division of courts of law and court of equity goes back to medieval England and the formation of the English judicial system.

Combining these courts (merging the courts of law and equity) will also help in rural areas where both chancery and circuit judges literally "ride the circuit," holding court in certain counties only once or twice per month. Under Amendment 3, no matter what judge is present, many preliminary issues in civil and criminal cases can be handled on the spot without waiting for the right kind of judge to show up to rule on the matter. Specialization among trial judges will still be allowed under Amendment 3. There will still be judges who handle primarily civil, criminal, family law as well as juvenile cases.

Initiatives and Referendums

Amendment 3 gives the Supreme Court original jurisdiction over the sufficiency of state initiative and referendum petitions Because the judicial article in our 1874 Constitution requires legal challenges to initiative and referendum to be filed first in lower courts, list minute appeals have been taken to the Supreme Court sometimes after ballots were already printed. This change will save the taxpayers time, effort and money, and will assure more orderly consideration of legal arguments concerning the sufficiency of initiatives and referendum.

Creation of District Courts

Amendment 3 will establish a new district court that will, merge the existing justice of the peace courts, courts of common pleas, police courts and municipal courts. The existing city courts will remain separate courts unless changed by the Legislature or the local city council. The new district court will have jurisdiction over the same cases that were heard by these other courts and will also serve as the small claims court. The number of district courts in each county will be decided by the legislature, as is the case now. This change will make the Arkansas judicial system more responsive to the legal needs of our citizens.

Referees and Masters

Because of the wording of our 1874 Constitution, state court judges cannot appoint masters and referees. Amendment 3 will allow the court to occasionally appoint a master or referee to deal with complicated matters that are best handled outside the courtroom. This is a practice used in almost all courts in the United States to make the judicial system more efficient.

In conclusion, Amendment 3 allows the people of Arkansas the opportunity to streamline, simplify, modernize and depoliticize their court system by simply exercising their right to vote and doing their civic duty.

The Arkansas Bar Association has been a longtime and forceful advocate for the positive changes contained in this proposal. Vote FOR Amendment 3 on Nov. 7. You'll be glad you did.

Louis B. Jones is this year's president of the Arkansas Bar Association. He is director of the Fayetteville Metropolitan Campus of Webster University.